Radiohead deliver a spell-binding, hit-packed set in London

As Radiohead prepare to play London’s O2 Arena again, Thom Yorke says, “Whenever you’re ready,” adopting the tone of a teacher waiting for an unruly class to calm down.

It’s a rare sense of humor from the frontman, whose onstage utterances are mostly limited to muttering “thank you.” But it’s also an acknowledgment of how long fans have been waiting for this show.

It’s been 10 years since Radiohead last released new material and 99 months since their last UK concert.

Expectations for their comeback have been increasing since they announced that they would hold a limited number of concerts in September. The setlists for the first shows in Spain and Italy sparked news (“Radiohead playing Nice Dream for the first time since 2009”) as fans perused the song selections.

According to a source, they rehearsed 65 different numbers.

At the O2, the band delve into their entire discography, from the arena rock anthems of 1994’s The Bends to the ethereal ballads of A Moon Shaped Pool, through the layered electronics of Kid A, now celebrating its 25th anniversary.

There are some signs that Radiohead are a little rusty. A few timing and setting issues arise that could easily be the result of a first night in a new venue, but feel odd for a band with such technical proficiency.

But when they come together, an exhilarating, fascinating sight emerges.

They begin with the alien, hypnotic Planet Telex and follow it with a lively version of 2+2=5, written in 2003 as a reaction to George W. Bush’s “War on Terror” and taking on new urgency in a world where political norms are seemingly upended.

On the third song, Sit Down, Stand Up, they flex their musical muscles with a long outro of percussive madness, with the help of US session musician Chris Vatalaro.

His addition to the roster is a gift. Radiohead’s secret sauce has always been the rhythm section; who manage to find strong, danceable rhythms even when presented with their bandmates’ most challenging material.

In particular, the slinky bass line of the National Anthem and the punchy drum loops of Idioteque give the audience ample opportunity to jump up and down.

That said, it’s fun to watch bassist Colin Greenwood try (and fail) to get the crowd to applaud in time to 15 Step’s glitchy and unconventional rhythms.

Instead, most nod their heads up and down in unified appreciation of the music. Sometimes it seems like it’s a tradition for dogs to nod their heads.

However, among the more experimental songs there were songs that really clicked with the crowd: a sad version of Lucky, a beautifully twisted No Surprises, and a truly gorgeous version of Weird Fishes/Arpeggi.

But I have a theory that the band’s dislike of the “old stuff” is an elaborate ruse. They never stopped playing songs by The Bends and OK Computer, but here’s the suggestion: habit When they get into something anthemic like Fake Plastic Trees, everything gets even more exciting.

That song opened the Friday night encore, which focused heavily on ’90s material, including Let Down, a deep cut that’s given new life on TikTok, and the epic Paranoid Android.

Debuting a muscular version of Just, Yorke explains that the song was written “on a freezing cold farm in 1994,” at a time when they thought they would be remembered for just one song: their 1992 breakout Creep.

We all know the story ends differently, but the reunion finds Radiohead in an awkward position.

This tour features no new material, and the last seven years have been so fruitful in terms of side projects, particularly Thom Yorke and guitarist Jonny Greenwood’s three albums such as The Smile, that it appears the members of Radiohead may have moved on permanently.

Various factors prevented this; grief, parenthood, mental health, and rumors of intra-band tension over Israel.

As recently as August, Yorke said a reunion “wasn’t in the cards where I was sitting.”

All of this makes the decision to play on tour all the more important, packed like sardines in a crushed tin can.

The band symbolically returns to the rehearsal room, where they play to each other as much as they play to the audience.

Yorke glides across the stage, doing the dance he does, switching from acoustic guitar to electric piano and back to acoustic guitar.

During Idioteque, guitarist Ed O’Brien catches him mid-transition and they sing the lyrics directly to each other. At the beginning of Jigsaw Falling Into Place, Yorke and Greenwood face off and play dueling guitars.

Even though the band were allocated separate dressing rooms for the first time in their careers, it shows that the tour was an act of healing.

Whether this will lead to anything more is still up for debate. “We didn’t think of passing the tour” Yorke recently told the Times:. “I’m surprised we got this far.”

Delighted fans lining up to sing Karma Police at the Metro house will be hoping everything is in the right place for a full-fledged comeback.

Planet Telex

2 + 2 = 5

Sit, Stand

Lucky

Bloom

15 Steps

Darkness

Child A

No Surprises

Video tape

Strange Fish/Arpeggios

idiotic

Everything Is In Its Right Place

National Anthem

dreaming

Puzzle Falling into Place

body thieves

there there

Again:

Fake Plastic Trees

Let down

Paranoid Android

You and Whose Army?

The Wolf at the Door

Only

Karma Police